Dems delay nominating convention

The Democratic National Committee is delaying its presidential nominating convention until the week of Aug. 17 after prospective nominee Joe Biden said he didn’t think it would be possible to hold a normal convention in midJuly because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Convention CEO Joe Solmonese confirmed the decision in a statement Thursday.

“In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention,” Solmonese said.

Biden on Wednesday night told NBC latenight commedian Jimmy Fallon that he doubted “whether the Democratic convention is going to be able to be held” on its original July 1316 schedule in Milwaukee.

“I think it’s going to have move into August,” Biden said. “You just have to be prepared for the alternative, and the alternative — we don’t know what it’s going to be.”

Those comments are the furthest Biden had gone in predicting a delay for the convention, which would mark the start of the general election campaign. The coronavirus pandemic is forcing Democrats and Republicans to take a close look at whether they’ll be able to move forward as planned with their summer conventions.

Republicans, meanwhile, are expressing confidence they can pull off their convention as scheduled, but party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel still allows for the possibility that the pandemic could upend GOP plans. Republicans expect to gather Aug. 2427 in Charlotte, N.C.